


Sarah’s Guide To Girls

by sarahjacobs



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Also some sprace, Angst, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, Fluff, Jack/Katherine are a thing for a few, M/M, and javid, newsbians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-09
Updated: 2018-09-25
Packaged: 2019-03-15 18:10:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13618857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahjacobs/pseuds/sarahjacobs
Summary: Sarah’s a girl, she likes girls, therefore she knows everything right? Wrong.





	1. Step One: See Her

**Author's Note:**

> Idk why this fic deleted but I’m publishing it again :))

Sarah Jacobs nearly swooned at the sight of her. The girl stood across the hallway, next to Sarah's younger brother, a hand covering her face to hide her laughter. Her red curls were in a ponytail, her bangs lying across her forehead. She wore a plain tee shirt with jeans, yet she still managed to look amazingly beautiful. Sarah had never seen her around before, perhaps she was new.

Sarah tugged at the buckle on her backpack, debating whether or not going up and introducing herself. The bell rang, deciding for her that she would not introduce herself and just wait until she sees her again. Sarah sighed and made her way to her fourth block.

Sarah was usually the first one to last block but she had been beat this time. By none other than the girl she had seen just a few seconds ago. Sarah stares at her before realizing she must look weird and moves to her usual seat two desks behind where the girl had sat. How had Sarah not noticed her before?

Sarah got out her supplies and stares at the back of the red haired girl's head. Sarah stood up, ready to introduce herself but chickened out at the last moment. The red haired girl turned to look at Sarah, looking confused when seeing Sarah standing up. Sarah panics and grabs her pencil before walking towards the pencil sharpener. She mentally scolds herself.

"Uh..." The red haired girl speaks up. Sarah looked at her in alarm. "That's a mechanical pencil."

Sarah looks down at the pencil in her hand, thankful she hadn't tried to stick it in the sharpener yet. "Oh," Sarah says embarrassed.

"I'm Katherine Pulitzer," She says.

Sarah recognized the name, she'd heard it before but she wasn't sure where. She quickly recovers and sticks her hand out for Katherine to shake, "Sarah Jacobs."

Katherine smiles and nods. More and more people began crowding the classroom so Sarah takes it as her cue to sit down. Sarah lies her head against her arms, embarrassed by her actions.

"Saz?" Sarah looks up at her name being called to see Spot in his usual seat beside her.

"Hey Spotty," Sarah says using the hated nickname. "I just made a fool of myself."

"Oh?"

"I tried to sharpen my mechanical pencil in front of new girl," Sarah explains.

Sarah punches Spot’s arm when seeing him trying not to laugh. "It's not funny, Sean!"

"It kind of is," Spot replies. Sarah was about to respond but the teacher began talking and Spot put a finger to her lips, silencing her.

—

Sarah stared at the stars littering her ceiling, they weren't exactly set up like they should be but she had been ten and could care less about accuracy. Besides they were just glow-in-the-dark stickers.

She sighs and rolls onto her side, moving her gaze to one of her many One Direction posters. Sarah was going to go insane. She sat up immediately and rubbed her eyes. Sarah smoothed down her nightgown and tip toed towards David and Les' shared room. She knocked hesitantly.

"Dave?" She whispered, knocking again.

"Come in," David calls and she quickly walks in. She looks towards Les' bed.

"He's watching TV in the living room," David tells her.

Sarah sits at the edge of David's bed and picks at her fingernails. "That girl you were with this morning—"

"Katherine?"

"Is she..." Sarah stops herself. She shouldn't be asking David for the girls preferences, what if David didn't know? Hell, Sarah barely knew the girl why was she so hung up?

"Is she?" David repeats, setting his book on his nightstand and pushes his round glasses further up his nose.

"She's in my Lit class," Sarah explains, "Made a complete fool of myself trying to introduce myself. Tried to sharpen a mechanical pencil."

David giggles and covers his face with his hands. Sarah can't help but laugh also.

"I did tell her my name though," Sarah says once they stop laughing. "Has she always gone to school with us?"

"Yeah," David responds, "She moved right before the winter break that's probably why you never noticed her in your Lit class."

"Hm," Sarah acknowledges, "She's really pretty."

David snorts, "You aren't the only one who thinks so."

Sarah's eyes widen, it hadn't even come to her attention David might..."Do you?"

David giggles again and Sarah looks at him confused. He stops and coughs awkwardly, "No I...I was talking about Jack. Girls aren't really my thing." He immediately stops talking.

"Mm," Sarah nods, "Well boys aren't really my thing."

David smiles widely, then frowns and his eyes grow even wider. "I'm gay."

"Uh..." Sarah says unsure of how to respond as he begins to pull at his hair. "David, hey it's okay."

"No, it's—" He quickly takes a deep breath and corrects himself. "We're both gay." David begins to laugh. "How're Ma and Papa gonna?"

"I don't know," Sarah says and then to change the subject asks, "Jack likes Katherine?"

"I think so? He flirts with anything that smiles at him," David tells her, then he frowns, "But I think...I think he really does like her. She finds him a bit irritating though, but I think she kinda likes him also? I don't know they're a bit weird about it."

"Do you think you could introduce me?" Sarah asks him.

"You already met her?"

"Yeah but this time I won't make a fool of myself," Sarah grins.

"Alright, tomorrow when we get to school," David instructs.

"Alright," Sarah says and gets up to head back to her own room. "I love you, David, no matter what."

"Love you too, sis," David smiles.

—


	2. Step Two: Befriend Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sarah goes to a movie night that her brother never invited her to.

Sarah fiddled with the zipper on her windbreaker as she followed David into school. Instead of going to her usual group of friends, she followed David to his locker. He was talking about some type of snake but Sarah could hardly pay attention. David met with Jack and Katherine every morning at his locker and this time Sarah would be there to attempt to talk to Katherine. She owed David big time for this.

"—and then I read that the Brahminy Blind Snake, or flowerpot snake, is the only snake species made up of solely females! It doesn't need a mate to reproduce!" David exclaims. David stares at her for a minute before Sarah realizes she was supposed to respond.

"Oh!" Sarah says, "That's cool!"

"What's cool?" Jack asks, approaching the siblings and wrapping an arm around David's shoulder. Sarah swore she saw David blush.

David grins and turns to Jack excitedly, telling him the same snake fact he had just told Sarah. Katherine soon followed behind Jack and Sarah felt her breath catch.

"Oh hey!" Katherine says, "You're in my Lit class right!"

"Yep," Sarah responds.

"You tried to sharpen a mechanical pencil," Katherine giggles.

Sarah feels her face grow hot as she awkwardly laughs along, "Yeah...I did."

"Hey Kath," David greets, "This is my sister, Sarah, which you probably already knew that."

Katherine just smiles and nods.

"I love your boots!" Sarah blurts, looking at the brown ankle boots Katherine wore.

"Thanks," Katherine grins, "I can't remember where exactly I got them."

The warning bell rings and David hurriedly grabs his things and slams his locker shut.

"Jack and I should head to first!" He announces, "Bye Sarah, Kath."

Sarah and Katherine wave to both boys and watch as they get lost in the sea of people.

"Where's your first?" Sarah asks.

"Upstairs," Katherine replies.

"Same!" Sarah grins and they begin walking that way.

Marley, one of Sarah's teammates, approaches her, "Hey Sarah! You going to the party Friday?"

Sarah's eyes go wide, "Uh, no—"

"Why not?" Marley demands with a pout.

"Because, I—"

"It won't be like last time, swear," Marley says.

"Well, you see—"

"We're hanging out," Katherine butts in, "We made plans to go see a movie and...yeah."

Marley stares at them before shrugging and leaving to find her girlfriend. "Maybe next time!" Marley shouts.

"Thanks, Katherine," Sarah says awkwardly.

"No problem," Katherine says and stops in front of one of the classrooms, "This is my class."

"Bye!" Sarah waves.

"Wait! Hey, Sarah," Katherine says, "There is a movie night at Mush's house if you want to come."

"Well, I wouldn't wanna intrude," Sarah says but Katherine interrupts her.

"Great! See you there!"

Sarah watches as Katherine rushes into the classroom.

—

"Katherine said she invited you to Mush's for movie night," David says as gets into the car.

"Yeah," Sarah replies. She waits for him to buckle before pulling out of the parking spot. "If you don't want me to intrude, I won't go. She was just helping me out of going to a party."

"If you want to come," David begins but starts over, "I don't mind. I'm surprised Spot never invites you—"

"Spot never wants to go," Sarah says with a laugh, "He only goes for Race. Hey, why did you never invite me?"

"Well..." David looks slightly embarrassed, "You hang out with...popular kids—"

"Jack, Race and Mush are pretty popular," Sarah points out.

"They just get along with everyone," David rolls his eyes, "I didn't know if you'd like my friends...Spot doesn't count."

Sarah raises an eyebrow and David sighs.

"And I wasn't exactly out to you, well I was still figuring stuff out and I was scared they'd make a joke or forget that only they know—"

Sarah takes her eyes off the road for a second to look over at her younger brother.

"Hey!" He says, scaring her, "Eyes on the road!"

"Sorry, Davey," Sarah says quickly turning her attention back to the road.

—

It was Friday night and David would not stop knocking on Sarah's bedroom door.

"Saz! Jack's waiting!" David shouts, knocking on the door even harder.

Sarah rolls her eyes and ties her hair into a ponytail, "I'm coming!" She tells him and puts her phone and headphones into the sweatshirt pocket.

"Finally," David says dramatically as Sarah opens the bedroom door.

"Shut up," Sarah tells him and follows him outside.

"We'll be back at eleven, Mamma!" David shouts to her.

"I want to go!" Les protests but David just tells him no. "Sarah gets to go!"

"Sarah's not ten," David tells Les. Les pouts and stomps off.

Sarah rushes to Jack's old truck as soon as the cold hits her face. She quickly throws open the door and jumps inside, "It's fucking cold!"

"Well, hello to you too, Sarah," Jack laughs turning down the radio.

"Sarah! You are coming!" Katherine squeals from the front seat and Sarah turns bright red.

"Oh, yeah," Sarah squeaks out as Katherine turns to look at her. Katherine's usual curly hair was in a bun at the top of head and she wore an oversized sweater and sweatpants.

David takes his seat on the other side of Sarah and tells Jack to go. Sarah quickly sits back and looks over at David with wide eyes. David shrugs and leans back, talking to Jack about some bad teacher.

They pull up to a rather large house and Jack parks in the yard.

"Jack!" Sarah says, "You can't just park in the middle of the yard."

"Mush doesn't care," Jack shrugs and tosses his keys to David who immediately pockets them.

"His parents might."

"Mush's parents are always away on cruises," David informs her.

"Oh," Sarah mumbles embarrassed and quickly gets out of the car.

"Don't worry about it," Katherine tells her as they walk to the front door, "I said the same thing."

"And Mush goes by 'they/them'," Katherine adds after a minute.

"Huh?"

"They just told us that today though," Katherine tells her, "Mush prefers to go by 'they/them.'"

"Oh," Sarah says, "Thanks for telling me!"

"No problem," Katherine says and bumps their shoulders together. She then giggles and points to Jack and David who were walking ahead of them, "Are you sure they're not dating? Jack tells me they aren't but maybe—"

"They aren't together," Sarah interrupts. "At least I don't think..."

"Well they say they aren't," Katherine shrugs, "I just want to make sure before I talk to Jack. I really like him."

Sarah feels her heart plummet, "Oh?"

"Yeah."

Sarah quickly recovers, "You guys would make a cute couple!"

"Who would?" Jack asks as he rings the doorbell.

"No one," Katherine dismisses. Underneath the porch light Sarah could tell Katherine was blushing.

"Kath! Jack! Dave!" Mush claps with each name and pulls them inside, "Sarah?" He says when noticing the brunette.

"Hey Mush," Sarah grins, "Hope you don't mind they invited me."

Mush smiles widely, "It would've been nice to know they invited someone else..." He glares at the trio, "But that's fine! I'll get Race to make more snacks!"

Sarah enters the house and follows her brother downstairs. A large group of people sat around the huge basement.

"Dave! I didn't know you had so many friends!" Sarah teases and David sticks his tongue out at her.

"Sarah!" Spot shouts when noticing her. "What're you doing here?"

"I invited her," Katherine answers.

"Well you weren't gonna invite me," Sarah says walking over to take a seat beside him, "Someone had to!"

Spot rolls his eyes and nudges Sarah.

They all begin spouting off names and Sarah knows immediately that she won't remember. She already knew a few of the boys just because they'd been over to her house but she didn't recognize a large portion of them.

Sarah looked around and found Katherine talking with four other girls. She found David trying to take a joint from Jack, who just passed it to a boy with red hair. David seemed to scold him but Jack just laughed. Sarah smiled.

"What movie are we watching?" A filipino boy shouts and Sarah was sure his name was 'Romeo.'

"Rent!" Another boy shouts.

"No!" Everyone disagrees.

"Les Mis!" The redhead suggests.

"No!" Spot shouts almost instantly and groans.

"Oh shut up!" The redhead glares, "You don't want to watch it anymore because we caught you crying!"

Sarah snorts and Spot punches her arm lightly.

"Harry Potter!" A boy with glasses, Specs, shouts and no one seems to disagree but Jack.

"David always mumbles the line under his breath before the actor does though!" Jack complains. David throws a pillow at Jack.

"You don't have to sit by me!" David says and Jack throws the pillow back at him.

"Mom, Dad, please don't argue!" Mush says childishly. Sarah laughs and watches as David's face and neck turn a light shade of pink. 

"Shut up, Mush," Jack says, "You are not mine and David's child! You're the in-law who everyone goes to for weed!"

"Mush is my child!" Race tells defensively as he sets some snacks on the round table.

The boy sitting on Sarah's other side begins giggling. Sarah was sure his name was Crutchie, she'd seen him over at her house a couple times.

"Race!" Spot calls, "You can sit over here."

Race doesn't answer as he takes a seat beside Romeo. Sarah sees Spot frown from the corner of her eye.

"Race, you can sit here," She says standing up. She looks down at Spot to see the tips of his ears turning red.

"Oh, uh, thanks Sarah," Race says and Sarah slowly swaps spots with him.

"Sarah!" Katherine ushers her over to where she was sitting on the couch with the other girls. Sarah hesitantly walks towards them.

"Sarah this is Smalls, Sniper, JoJo and Buttons!" Katherine introduces.

"Hey!" Sarah greets and they all scoot down to make room for here. Smalls ends up sitting on Sniper's lap but neither seem to mind. Sarah sits against the arm of the couch, her shoulder pressed against Katherine's.

A round of "shh's" and "shut up's" pass around them as the movie starts. Sarah shuffles to get comfortable into the chair. She hears JoJo say something to Katherine who giggles in response, but Sarah missed it as she was too focused on Katherine's closeness to her.

"JoJo!" A chorus of the boy's shout and JoJo begins to laugh.


	3. Step Three: Liking Girls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sarah really likes girls.

Sarah was a girl yet she didn't know the first thing about them. What did they like? What didn't they like? They're were so many different girls, none of them the same but—

"Sarah!" Some shouts, shaking her from her thoughts. Sarah looked up just in time to keep a volleyball from hitting her face.

"Jacobs!" Her couch yells, "What're you doing?"

Sarah feels her face flush in embarrassment, when hearing her teammates giggle.

"Got distracted..." She mumbles and serves the ball. Sarah quickly shakes her head and focuses on volleyball and not on girls. Definitely not on the really pretty girls all around her wearing tight shorts and...Sarah immediately stops herself, a bit disgusted at her own thoughts.

They were her teammates and she would definitely not think about them in any way other than strictly team-ly.

"Practice is over!" Their coach finally yells and Sarah quickly helps clean up. She grabs her keys, backpack and water bottle ready to leave when her coach stops her. "Jacobs!"

"Ma'am?" Sarah asks, nervously standing in front of the woman.

"Whats wrong with you?"

"Excuse—"

"You can talk to me, Jacobs," Her coach says a bit awkwardly, "You weren't paying attention in practice..."

"Oh," Sarah says embarrassed, "Just tired, I guess. Didn't get much sleep."

Her coach shrugs and Sarah takes that as a sign to leave. She quickly rushes out of the gym and to her car, throwing her things in the trunk. Sarah groans and hits her head against the steering wheel. Her mind occupied with too many thoughts she didn't have enough time to process them. They were overwhelming her.

Sarah squeezes her eyes shut and starts her car. Had she always liked girls? Of course she had. Perhaps she had always liked them but no one made her wonder about it until she saw Katherine. Something about Katherine interested Sarah. Sarah couldn't stop thinking about her. Her red hair, her fair skin, her pink lips...god Sarah wanted to kiss her.

Sarah barely knew Katherine though. She only knew she was David's friend and straight, and crushing on someone that wasn't Sarah. Katherine was crushing on Jack, who was something Sarah wasn’t: a boy  

Sarah quickly drove home. She didn't bother with grabbing her bags, instead ran up the porch steps of the small home and rushed inside.

"How was practice, darling," Her mom, Esther, says with a smile. She was reheating some soup on the oven.

"Fine," Sarah responds, taking her shoes off and sitting at the kitchen table. Esther hums an old lullaby as she pours Sarah's dinner into a bowl.

"Les ate the last of the bread," Esther tells her and Sarah nods. Esther takes a seat across from Sarah. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Sarah responds.

Esther doesn't look convinced but gets up and begins to do the dishes, not questioning Sarah any further.

—

Sarah always struggled with falling asleep. No matter what she tried she could never fall asleep. Her mother used to sing her lullabies either in Polish or Hebrew, but now she was older and she doubted her mother wanted to sing for a 17 year old at 3 in the morning.

Sarah sighs and throws the blankets off of her. She smooths out her night gown and tip toes towards the kitchen. Sarah pours herself a glass of water and sits at the table. She was surrounded by darkness, usually that would terrify her, but Sarah was preoccupied by her own thoughts to care.

"Sarah?" Someone whispers and the kitchen light flickers on. "What're you doing up?"

"What're you doing up?" Sarah asks, not turning around to face her mother.

"Your Pa is snoring," Esther says, "After a while it's kind of annoying."

Sarah forces a small laugh as Esther sits across from her.

"Now what about you,” Esther asks her, reaching over to hold her daughters hand.

“Nothing, just couldn’t sleep,” Sarah lies. Esther doesn’t say anything. “Have a test tomorrow, nervous about it,” Sarah says truthfully, but that wasn’t what was keeping her up.

“You’ll do great!” Esther reassures her, “Always do.”

Sarah shrugs, “I guess.”

Esther smiles and gets up to pour herself a glass of water. “Sarah, sweetie, you know you can talk to me—”

“Of course, Momma.”

“About anything, I’m not someone to judge you,” Esther pauses, “I’m sure I made plenty of mistakes growing up and there are thing I wish I would’ve told my mother—”

“I tell you everything, Momma,” Sarah tells her.

Esther shrugs this time, “I just want you to know I won’t judge…don’t be scared. I was always scared of what my mom would say if I told her things.”

Sarah smiles and hugs her mother tightly, “I love you.”

“Love you too,” Esther says and soothingly rubs Sarah’s back. “You should get to sleep.”

Sarah nods and makes her way back to her bedroom. She still can’t sleep.


	4. Step Four: Do Not Cry When She Dates Your Brother’s Best Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Katherine are a thing?

 Sarah was usually happy, she tried to stay as positive as possible no matter what. She mainly attempted to be positive because her brother was always a bit negative and Sarah hated that; she constantly tried to make him happy. It was rare that Sarah got angry or sad for too long.

However, when she woke up on Tuesday something felt off. She wasn't on her period, she didn't feel sick, she just felt off. Sarah reached for her phone and groaned when it fell to the carpeted floor. She stared at the ceiling before rolling over and grabbing her phone to see the time. 7:45am. Sarah quickly jumped out of bed when realizing she was running late and rushed downstairs for breakfast.

Les and David were calmly eating their cereal, dressed and ready to go.

"Why didn't anyone wake me up?" Sarah asked as she attempted to make a quick bowl of cereal.

"We knocked on your door," Les tells her through a mouthful of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. "You said "I'm up" so we stopped."

Sarah didn't remember that but she didn't dwell on it. She ate as quickly as possible and rushed back to her room.

Sarah refused to glance at the time again as she looked for clean clothes. It was only Tuesday, she couldn't be out of clean jeans yet. She reached for a pair on the floor and tugged them on, sucking in her stomach in order to button them. Now she remembers why they were on the floor of the closet. Sarah grabbed a band t-shirt and pulled it over her head. She stared at herself in her mirror as she tugged on her converse. Sarah shrugged and rushed to the bathroom to brush her teeth and hair.

Sarah hated what she was wearing, she decided as she brushed out her long hair. Too late to change, she thought as she heard Les shout at her that it was 8:05.

Les and David were already in the car by the time she got outside.

"Keys?" She asked and Les held them up and grinned. She sighs in relief and climbs into the drivers seat.

"We're gonna be late," David groans and Sarah shushes him.

Les' school was only ten minutes from the house and Sarah and David's school was ten minutes from Les' school. Les refused to ride the bus in the morning, but he rode it in the afternoon: no one really understood why. The good thing was Sarah didn't have to be in class until 8:35.

When finally they arrived at school, David rushed towards his locker and Sarah followed behind him. She stared at her friends who were in the cafeteria and then glanced towards David who was talking to Jack and Katherine.

Sarah felt her heart beat quicken at the sight of Katherine. Katherine was wearing a dress and it made Sarah weak at the knees. She quickly walked that way.

"Hey Katherine!" Sarah calls as she approaches her brother and his friends.

"Sarah!" Katherine greets.

That's when Sarah notices it. Katherine was holding Jack's hand tightly in her own. Sarah slowly looked away from the intertwined hands and at Katherine. Katherine blushed as Sarah stared at her with wide eyes. Sarah forced a smile as she ignored the tightening in her chest. She looked to David who was rummaging through his locker, no longer talking to the couple.

"When—when did...this," Sarah gestures to their hands. Both of them blush.

"Yesterday," Jack answers for them.

"Oh," Sarah says, "I'm happy for you to!"

The warning bell rings and David slams his locker door shut.

"We should head to first, Jack," David offers not looking up from his shoes.

"I was, uh gonna walk with Katherine," Jack tells David.

"Oh," David says softly, "Sure." Jack smiles and he and Katherine walk off.

"Dave—" Sarah begins her heart breaking even more as her brother walks off by himself.

—

Sarah was sick of Katherine's constant gushing about Jack Kelly. Of course, Sarah loved hearing Katherine talk...it's just she would rather not be reminded that her crush is taken.  Sarah looked to Spot for help but he was talking to Specs, who Sarah never noticed was in the class. Perhaps Sarah needed to be more observant.

Katherine finally stopped talking when the teacher began class. Sarah was, for once, happy that class actually started on time.

When the class was over Sarah rushed out of the classroom without waiting for Spot or Katherine. She rushed towards David's class (at the end of the hall) and waited for him.

"Let's get out of here, yeah?" Sarah asks him. David nods and they rush downstairs and to Sarah's car.

"Don't you have practice?"

Sarah shrugs, "No, the seasons over, it's just extra practice for next year."

Sarah pulls into the Dairy Queen, she orders their usual blizzards. David thanks her as he grabs his.

"I'm sorry," David tells her over a mouthful of ice cream.

"What?" Sarah asks, looking at her younger brother with wide eyes.

"About Katherine," David says, "You liked her."

"Oh, yeah," Sarah laughs awkwardly, "I did or well do. She's the one who kind of made me wonder...I mean I think I've always known but she's the first girl I've actually liked."

"Eighth grade," David says.

"Huh?"

"I knew in eighth grade," David says softly, "I've liked Jack since the eighth grade."

Sarah reaches over and places a hand on her brother's shoulder. He begins to laugh suddenly, startling Sarah.

"It's kind of funny," David giggles, "That the two people we like are dating each other."

Sarah laughs and pats David's shoulder before driving home.


	5. Step Five: Double Dates Suck, Especially When You’re Gay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sarah goes on a double date for some reason?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not my favorite chapter tbh but have fun

"Hey, Sarah," Katherine says as they walk to their lit class. Jack had not walked with him today, Sarah was grateful for that. "So I was thinking Jack and I—"

There it was, Sarah resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Jack and I were wondering if you wanted to go on a double date with us...Jack has this friend and we thought it'd fun."

Sarah stares at her blankly for a moment. "Where?"

"We were thinking bowling," Katherine says immediately.

"With who?" Sarah asks.

"Someone from Jack's baseball team, I think," Katherine says, eyebrows furrowing as she tried to remember who. "William?"

Sarah shrugs.

"So?" Katherine asks, nudging Sarah's side with her elbow. "What do you say?"

"Uh..." Sarah says and thinks about it. Sarah hated bowling, but she would get to spend time with Katherine...but Jack would also be there and she'd have to pretend to be having fun with her "date." "Sure," Sarah said immediately.

—

"You hate bowling!" David says as Sarah lays face first onto his bed.

"I know!"

"When's the date?"

"Tonight," Sarah says miserably.

"Sarah!" David exclaims and Sarah groans in response. "Why would you even agree if you like Katherine?"

"Because I want to spend time with her," Sarah whines, "I want to be her friend."

"So in order to get close to her, you go on a double date with her and her boyfriend...with said boyfriends friend...who's a guy...even though you're gay?"

"Yes, David! Is it that hard to understand?" Sarah asks as she gets up to leave the room.

"Why don't you just cancel?" David asks. Sarah stares at him before stomping out of his bedroom and to her own down the hall.

—

"Sarah! Katherine is here!" She hears her mother shout, "Along with Jack and—" Esther pauses, most likely to ask the other boy what his name was, "William!"

Sarah sighs and stares at her reflection in the mirror again. She straightens out her shirt and wipes her sweaty palms on her jeans.

"Sarah," David says, knocking on her door.

"I know!" Sarah says, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "I'll be out in just a second!" She brushes out her hair and ties it back before finally grabbing her purse and leaving the room.

"Hey!" Sarah says with a forced smile.

"Have fun!" Mayer calls from the living room, "Be back by 12!"

"Okay, Papa!" She calls back and ushers the group outside.

Jack and Katherine walk ahead of the other two and Sarah awkwardly shoves her hands in her jean pockets.

"So..." Sarah says awkwardly.

"So..." William replies, "Sarah, right?"

"Yep. William, right?"

"Yep."

They walk in an awkward silence all the way to Jack's truck. Sarah was usually good at conversations and people in general, but right now she just felt awkward and uncomfortable. Jack and Katherine were talking amongst themselves in the front seats as Sarah tried to sit as far away as she could from William without it being noticeable.

When they arrived at the bowling alley she wished she was a good actress, therefore she could pretend to be sick and go home. However when seeing the smile on Katherine's face, Sarah just kept on walking.

Bowling never seemed to end, in Sarah's opinion. She actually had no idea how the points were kept or who was winning but she assumed it wasn't her and William. Sarah leaned her head against the palm of her hand and tried to look enthusiastic when William got a strike. Jack and Katherine both cheered and continued talking quietly until it was their turn.

Finally, finally, it was time for them to go home. Jack and Katherine had won, just as Sarah had guessed. They were sitting in Jack’s truck once again, but this time William and Jack were talking about baseball. Sarah played with a string on her shirt, tuning out the conversation. She never understood baseball anyways.

“Bye Sarah,” is what pulled her out of the trance. She quickly looked up at the three and smiled.

“Bye guys,” She says then turns to William, “See you, William.”

He waves and Sarah rushes to her porch.

“Have fun?” David asks from the kitchen table. Sarah throws her shoes into the small closet and groans. “That good, huh?”

“I really hate bowling,” Sarah grumbles and takes a seat across from David. David reaches over and pats her shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Saz,” David sighs.

“It’s whatever,” Sarah shrugs and stretches, “Night David.”

“Night, Sarah.”


	6. Step Six: When In Doubt…Drink It Out?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spot makes Sarah go to a party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went back and edited a few chapters, nothing major that will make you have to go back and reread. Basically, no one knows Sarah is gay except David soo

Sarah loved her best friend Sean, or Spot, Conlon, but he was never good at comforting people. He tried his best, Sarah knew this and by this time she was used to it and he was used to it: they'd been best friends since middle school.

It had been Spot's idea to go to a party, saying that she needed to take her mind off this "mystery person." Sarah really just wanted to stay at home and watch rom-com's but Spot was having none of it. He had watched Clueless and 10 Things I Hate About You more times than he would like to admit.

So, Sarah sucked it up, got dressed and let Spot drive her car all the way to some random neighborhood she didn't know. They pulled up to a rather large, nice looking house.

"You were invited to this party?" Sarah asks looking over at Spot in confusion.

"What?" Spot asks.

"It's just...normally when you go to parties there on the other side of town—"

"Oh, shut up," Spot says and gives Sarah the keys.

Sarah rubs her sweaty palms on her black skirt as she follows Spot inside. Music was playin loudly and was already starting to give her a headache but she continued on. She saw Race in the corner, sipping at a drink.

"Spot!" Sarah exclaimed, "Race is here!"

"I know," Spot smirks and grabs himself something to drink. "It's his party."

"You—" Sarah stares at him with wide eyes, "You used my love troubles as a way to get into Race's pants."

"No," Spot says and Sarah was pretty sure he was blushing, "I said what you needed was a drink and I knew where to find one. And it just so happened to be at Race's party."

"Right," Sarah says, rolling her eyes. Spot shoves a cup towards her and leaves her no choice but to take it before rushing off towards Race.

Sarah sips at the drink cautiously and wanders around the house. She notices a few people from her volleyball team and from school but she doesn't stop to talk to any of them. Sarah leans against the wall as she observes the teens around her.

"Sarah?" A familiar voice shouts and she turns to see her brother standing not too far from her.

"David!" Sarah says looking at him in confusion. "You said you were going to Race's."

"I am at Race's," David laughs. Sarah laughs too and takes another drink.

She suddenly feels uncomfortable at the sight of her brother at a party. He had never come to any parties before, always denied when Sarah invited him. If David was here that most likely meant Jack was here and if Jack was here that meant Katherine would be here.

Before she could stop herself Sarah asked, "Is Jack here?"

"Yeah," David says, "I'm actually looking for him right now, drunk Jack is hard to keep up with up."

Sarah smiles, "...Katherine?"

"Uh, said she isn't one for parties."

Sarah felt a little upset that Katherine wasn't here but also relieved. She had come here to forget Katherine anyways. "You've never been one for parties either."

"Well," David sighed and scratched the back of his neck, "Jack just said they were hanging out at Race's, so I came and the next thing I know more and more people show up and then it's well...a party."

Sarah laughs and reaches for another drink.

"Maybe you should slow down," David tells her.

Sarah winks at him, "Don't worry, David, I can handle a little alcohol...besides this isn't that strong."

David gaped at her before his attention was elsewhere. Sarah looked to where he was and giggled.

"Oh, God," David says. "I better go get him."

David runs towards where Jack was dancing on the coffee table and Sarah laughs even harder.

—

Sarah had been hanging out by the wall, drinking whatever was passed to her. She wasn't sure how many drinks she had had but she did know she was going to have a major headache. A girl had appeared at her side, name unknown to Sarah.

Then the girl was kissing her and Sarah didn't exactly hate it. It was Sarah's first kiss...well not exactly her first kiss, but her first time kissing a girl and Sarah then decided she never wanted to stop. Girl's lips were soft yet rough and Sarah couldn't stop from loving it. The other girl's hands were wondering everywhere and it felt like her heart was going to leap out of her chest.

The kiss was over all too soon. Sarah leaned forward to kiss her again but the blonde haired girl stopped her. Sarah frowned. The other girl just smiled and took Sarah's hand, leading her away from the crowd and to a more secluded spot. Once away from the crowd, the blonde wastes no more time in kissing Sarah. Sarah doesn't argue.

—

Sarah wakes up the next morning, her head pounding and eyes blurry.

"Morning," Spot's voice calls out and Sarah looks to see him placing water and medicine on the nightstand. "Brought you to mine when finding you passed out outside."

"Oh," Sarah feels her face heat up in embarrassment. She doesn't remember passing out but she definitely remembers the girl from last night. Sarah wondered if she passed out while making out with the blonde, that would be embarrassing.

Sarah reaches for the water bottle and medicine and downs it quickly. She shifts uncomfortably when seeing Spot studying her.

"What?" She asks him.

Spot shakes his head, "We can talk to each other about everything right?" He seemed more uncomfortable then Sarah did.

Sarah nods.

"Well, you know I'm gay."

Sarah nods again.

"And you know I don't have a problem with you being gay, right? It would be kind of hypocritical."

Sarah isn't sure what to say. She twirls a piece of her hair, a nervous habit she had, and stares at him. "Why—why would you think—"

"I saw you with this other girl and I just wanted you to know..." Spot says, "So was this 'mystery' person a girl...that why you didn't tell me?"

Sarah slowly nods this time, unable to come up with something to say.

"Oh thank goodness, for a second I thought maybe you had a crush on Jack because you said I knew them and they were dating someone..." Spot laughs, "But now...oh, it's Katherine isn't it?"

"Yeah," Sarah says this time, "It is."

"Who all knows?"

"What do you mean?"

"That you like girls," Spot rolls his eyes.

"Well, only you and David."

Spot takes a seat beside her, “Unrequited feelings suck.”

“But I thought you and Race—”

“No, he only sees me as a friend,” Spot says and Sarah can’t help but feel bad for him.

Spot had been trying to get Race to realize he had feelings for him since Sophomore year, but either Race didn’t return the feelings or he was just incredibly oblivious (Sarah was sure it was the latter).

“So…” Sarah grins, “10 Things I Hate About You?”

Spot groans but lays down beside her and grabs his laptop to pull up the old movie.


	7. Step Seven: Coming Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Katherine are sickeningly cute, David is upset and Sarah comes out to her mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i kind of got carried away with javid rather than newsbians but next chapter will be back on track!

Sarah's parents never minded their kids staying home from school if they were really sick or just needed a day to themselves. They did not like, however; when the answer to why they needed to stay home was "because." It was a simple system: if Sarah was really sick she stayed home, if told them she needed a day to herself then they didn't pry or ask questions unless their kids told them first and she stayed home. 

This time, however; Sarah didn't really have any reason to skip school, she didn't feel sick or bad in anyway, she just really didn't want to go to school and see Jack and Katherine. Therefore, because Sarah could come up with no reason, she was forced to get up and get dressed.

Sarah could see her mother lingering in the doorway as she looked through her closet for something to wear. Sarah grabbed a comfortable dress and laid it on her bed. She turned to her mother who was braiding a strand of her graying hair.

"Momma?"

Esther leans forward and presses her wrist to Sarah's forehead.

"I'm fine, Momma," Sarah says, pushing her hand away.

"I just don't know why you don't want to go to school," Esther frowns. 

"I just don't feel like it, nothing's wrong," Sarah reassures her. 

Esther watches her for a few moments before turning and leaving the room. Sarah waits for the door to close before putting on her outfit. 

Sarah walked to the kitchen slowly, she could feel David and Les watching her but paid them no attention.

—

If Sarah thought home was bad, school was even worse. Katherine and Jack seemed even more clingy than usual and Sarah was getting sick of it.

She sent David a look and her brother only shrugged and slammed his locker.

"Hey, Jack," David says, trying to get Jack and Katherine to stop looking at each other in the creepy way only straight's seem to do.

"Yeah, Dave?"

"We have to get to class, if you're late again the teacher might actually explode."

"Yeah, okay, Dave."

Sarah looks over at David who was staring at the couple with a blank expression. He nodded his head and without another glance towards them he makes his way to class. Sarah sighs, her turn. She takes one look at them and then decides it's not worth it and walks away.

—

The rest of the day went by fairly quickly and Sarah didn't have to deal with the "happy couple" since she didn't have a class with both of them together. Unfortunately, David did.

Sarah wondered what happened as they drove home in silence. David was always talkative: when he was mad, sad, happy, upset, sick, he always had something to say. Whatever happened today, though, made him more upset than Sarah had ever seen him.

He walked into the house and towards his bedroom without saying anything to her, Les or their Mother who had asked him how his day. David always replies with a "meh," but today she got nothing.

"What's got him in a foul mood?" Les asks as he grabs the bowl of apple slices from Esther's hand.

"Dunno," Sarah shrugs.

"Why don't you talk to him?" Esther suggests.

"Well, I'm sure he'd rather hear from his mother," Sarah says.

"You guys get a long so well and I'm busy with dinner—" Esther says. Sarah raises an eyebrow. "Look, he hasn't been talking to me as much lately, kind of like you...and I just want him to be able to confide in someone."

"What about Jack?" Les offers. "They always kick me out of the room because they're "talking.""

Sarah quickly shakes her head, "I'll talk to him."

"What a good idea, Les!" Esther grins, "I haven't seen Jack in forever!"

"No, mom—" Sarah says but Esther had already picked up the phone. 

Sarah huffs and runs towards her younger brother's room. She knocks hesitantly and hears a small come in. Sarah slowly enters and smiles as David sets aside his homework.

"Momma is inviting Jack over for dinner," Sarah tells him immediately.

"What? Why!"

"Well..." Sarah begins to tell him how since he was acting "differently" and didn't talk as much to Momma anymore she wanted Sarah too, but Les suggested Jack to help work out whatever problem it was.

"Oh my God," David grumbles and rubs his temples. "I can't believe her! Just because I don't tell her a few things she suddenly—" He starts mumbling more to himself than Sarah.

"Hey, Dave, she just wants you to talk to her."

"She wants you to do the same," David says.

"Yeah," Sarah shrugs and sits at the edge of the bed.

David groans and flops forward onto Sarah's shoulder, "Sarah," He complains.

Sarah sighs and runs a hand through his curly hair. "Sorry, bud."

—

It was awkward, but Sarah was sure her parents and Les didn't notice. Well, maybe it was just her and David that were awkward. Jack seemed comfortable, like he always does when he's with David.

Sarah noticed how tense David was and wished she could reach across the table and take his hand, something that had calmed him since he was younger.

"So, I heard," Mayer begins and Sarah knows this won't be good, "You have a girlfriend?" The man chuckles as Jack's face turns a shade of bright red.

"Uh, yeah," Jack says, "Katherine...she's pretty great."

"Pretty great," David scoffs quietly, "She must be more than great if you ignore your friends."

Sarah looks at him with wide eyes and looks to Jack who was staring at his plate. 

"David!" Esther scolds, even though he didn't necessarily do anything wrong. 

"What? It's true," David rolls his eyes.

Jack doesn't look up from his plate and Sarah begins to feel bad for him, but what David had said was true.

"Apologize," Mayer says but David says nothing. He sends a look to Jack and gets up to leave the dining room.

Jack looks at the Jacobs family and rushes after David. Sarah knows she should stop him but she doesn't.

Mayer and Esther look at Sarah for an explanation but she shrugs. She looks over at Les who was still eating.

"Is Katherine a good girl?"

"A great girl," Sarah repeats Jack's words, "They're just—a little obsessed with each other right now. David feels a little—"

"Jealous," Les pipes in, "He'll get over it. Smalls got over it when me and Sally were together."

Mayer and Esther laugh and Sarah forces a smile and finishes her dinner.

—

"Dave, lemme in," Jack grumbles knocking lightly on the wooden door. David doesn't answer and Jack groans.

"Davey, c'mon," Jack says, "You know I will pick this lock and—"

The lock clicks when he says that and Jack smiles. He hesitates before opening the door. David was standing there when he opened and Jack frowned.

"What the hell, Dave," Jack says, stepping inside and closing the door behind him.

"It's nothing," David says quietly and turns to sit on his bed. 

"Obviously it ain't nothing," Jack rolls his eyes. "We tell each other everything, remember?"

"Well some things are meant to be kept a secret," David tells him, pushing his round glasses up further on his nose. 

Jack frowns, "Well, I tell you everything."

David crosses his arms, "Not my fault."

"You like Katherine," Jack says but it comes out more as a question.

"I do," David confirms, "I just..."

"You just—" Jack repeats.

"Nothing."

Jack groans, "I can't help if you don't tell me things!"

"Maybe you don't need to know everything!" David says, clearly upset. "Besides I said it was nothing!"

Jack frowns and takes a step away from his best friend.

Sarah felt bad for eavesdropping but she couldn't help it. Besides, if David needed Jack to leave Sarah would be there ready to make up an excuse.

"Sorry," Jack mumbles.

"I didn't mean to yell."

"It's fine," Jack says, "I'll uh—see you at school...or not."

Sarah panics when the door knob turns and quickly raises her fist. Jack jumps back when seeing Sarah standing there.

"Oh, hey," She says, "I was just about to come get Dave."

Jack nods and Sarah refuses to feel bad for him when he wipes at his eyes.

"You heard it all?" David asks when Jack is gone.

"Yeah, sorry," Sarah grumbles.

"It's okay," David shrugs. "He's just a boy."

"Yeah, besides he isn't even that cute."

David stares at her incredulously and Sarah laughs. "You are kidding, right?"

—

It was 3am again and Sarah still couldn't sleep. She was sitting at the table once more, sipping on a glass of water.

"Up again?" Esther asks walking into the kitchen like Sarah knew she would.

“Yeah,” Sarah says. Esther takes a seat across from her.

“Anything you want to talk about?” Esther asks hopefully. 

Sarah feels her heartbeat quicken and her stomach twists into knots. Sarah plays with a strand piece of hair that had fallen from the ponytail. 

“Well,” Sarah begins and Esther takes her hand comfortingly. “There is this person…I like.”

Esther squeals like a school girl and Sarah flushes red.

“Momma,” She whines.

“Sorry,” Esther says, “Go on.”

“Well, I don’t really know this person that well, I mean I talk to them a lot but I don’t…know them.”

Esther looks at her confused.

“I have a class with them and I’ve talked to them and hung out with them but we aren’t super close. The problem is that…we’ll they’re different. No, they aren’t different,” Sarah rambles, “I’m scared because—”

“Well that doesn’t matter, I mean—” Esther begins. 

“I like a girl,” Sarah blurts before Esther can continue. Her mother stares at her with wide eyes and Sarah feels tears well up in her eyes.

“Oh honey,” Esther says, “Is that what’s been bothering you?”

Sarah only stares.

“I love you, Sarah,” Esther says, “Nothing will change that.” Esther gets up from her spot at the table and embraces Sarah.

Sarah can’t stop the tears as she hugs her mother tightly. 

“I love you,” Esther repeats, “I’m sorry you would think I wouldn’t love you and that I made you believe that.”

“It’s not your fault,” Sarah mumbles. “I love you,” She says again.

“I love you too.”


	8. Step Eight: Avoid Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sarah & David have the same idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not my favorite chapter, as u can see it took me like two months to write it.

Sarah decided to take the next step in her crush and avoid Katherine entirely. If she wasn't near Katherine or talk to her than she would forget about it and get over the crush. Then, she could go about her day as usual and not constantly pine over a straight girl. 

Avoiding Katherine was easier said then done. Sarah had one class with Katherine and whenever she wasn't in class with Katherine she constantly saw her around school. Katherine would always say "hello" but Sarah would force herself to ignore it and move on. 

It also didn't help but that David and Katherine were pretty close. She approached her brother after school and froze when seeing Katherine standing there. The red haired girl looked upset and Sarah turned the other way. She quickly rushed out to her car, deciding David would know she was waiting outside instead.

Only a few minutes later, David approached the car and took his seat.

"Katherine is upset with you," David tells her.

Sarah shrugs.

"She says you haven't talked to her all day," David continues. "It's not a good idea to avoid—"

"Oh please, I know you're avoiding Jack?" Sarah interrupts.

David struggles to find what to say next, "...That's—I..."

Sarah smiles at him, "I'm not avoiding her. I just think I should distance myself a little bit until I stop getting upset about her and Jack."

"That's avoiding—"

"No it's not!" Sarah argues, "I'll talk to Katherine again when you talk to Jack."

David sighs.

"You know Jack's not going to take it well when he realizes you're avoiding him..." Sarah reminds him, "It's not good for either of you. Remember freshman year?"

David winces at the memory.

"Fine..." David finally says, "As long as you talk to Katherine too."

—

The next day of school came to quickly in Sarah's opinion. She felt as if she had only slept for three hours. Sarah pulled her hair up and out of her face as she trudged downstairs. Her mother was talking with Les about something his teachers had told her and David was reading some book.

"Morning, Sarah," Her mother grins when seeing her sit at the counter. 

"Morning, Momma," Sarah responds grabbing a muffin from the center. 

"You lot better get to school," She then says, "You'll be late."

Sarah finishes her muffin and follows her brother's outside.

—

Sarah was on her way to third block when she was stopped by Jack. He stared at her with sad eyes and a frown on his face, Sarah couldn't help but feel bad for him.

"I know you and Dave are avoidin' me an Kath," Jack tells her when he pulls her out of the crowded hallway.

Sarah pretends to act as if she didn't know what he was talking about. "What do you mean?"

Jack scoffs, "Kath has been complainin' about you avoidin' her and Dave hasn't talked to me...since, you know."

"Maybe you should apologize to him," Sarah offers.

"For what!" Jack shouts, gaining weird looks from people passing.

"Jack you aren't stupid...you know what it is," Sarah says.

"He's mad I'm ignoring him, but I'm not," Jack says, "He's the one ignoring me now!"

Sarah sighs and punches the bridge of her nose, "Jack, I know that you know Dave loves you."

Jack stares down at his shoes and shrugs. 

"And I know you love him as well, okay," Sarah continues, "You both need each other, so...maybe just apologize."

"I will when he stops ignoring me," Jack says. "I can't even be next to him without him coming up with an excuse..."

"You'll find a way, Jack."

"And you'll talk with Kath?" Jack asks her hopefully. 

“Maybe."

"She misses talking to you,” Jack tells her. “Katherine doesn’t make friends so…easily.”

Sarah smiles, “I’ll talk to her.”

Jack thanks her and pulls her into a long hug before running off to his class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi, I took a long break…it was much needed. I’m back for who knows how long. I’ll try to update asap but my life is a bit ??? right now so who knows.


	9. Step Nine: Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katherine’s a mess and Sarah’s gay.

Sarah Jacobs could handle a lot of things: vomiting, violence, blood, crowds, one thing she could not handle, though, was arguing. She didn't like people trying to argue with her, especially if she knew she was in the wrong. Even worse, Sarah did not want to argue with her crush whom she was trying to avoid...which started this in the first place. 

Her thoughts wandered to David who let Katherine in in the first place. David hadn't talked to Jack yet, there agreement was David talk to Jack and she'll talk to Katherine. However, Katherine was standing in the doorway to Sarah's bedroom with her hair pulled up messily and puffy eyes and snot dripping from her nose. She was babbling about Jack and something about Sarah and something about David and then something about how bees are dying and...maybe Sarah heard that last one wrong.

"Kathy..." Sarah says quietly, she quickly rises from her place on her bed and rushes towards her. 

Katherine immediately wraps herself around Sarah. Sarah stands stiff underneath her. Katherine soon pulls away and rubs her eyes, "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be," Sarah replies.

"It's just..." Katherine trails off and falls face first onto Sarah's bed, "Jack broke up with me and I'm never one to cry over boys...there's no reason to cry anyways!"

"Wh—what?" Sarah stutters and tries not to do a happy dance then and there.

"Yeah!" Katherine nearly wails, "Earlier today...and then I tried to call Romeo but he wouldn't pick up and Finch wouldn't answer either..." She sniffles, "And you aren't even talking to me! You're avoiding me for some reason and just!" She groans and then begins to laugh.

Sarah stares in horror at all the emotions Katherine seemed to be feeling at once. 

"Oh god, I'm a mess!" She laughs and Sarah slowly laughs. 

"Hey, Kathy," Sarah says, "Jack's a dick—"

"No...no he's not," Katherine frowns.

"Did you..." Sarah stops herself unsure if she should ask her not, "Did you love him?"

"I thought I did," Katherine says, "I thought he loved me but he likes someone else and that's fine...I get it."

Sarah wraps a hesitant arm around the redhead. They sit in an almost silence, Katherine's nose was still running.

"...why are you avoiding me?" Katherine speaks up quietly. “I thought we were actually becoming friends.”

Sarah isn't sure how to respond, she keeps her gaze on  her One Direction posters.

"Sarah?"

"I...don't know," Sarah shrugs. It's a lame excuse but Sarah is not about to have a heart to heart with a girl who's heart was literally just broken. 

Katherine scoffs.

"I mean...I was just," Sarah can't make up an excuse that doesn't sound lame, "I've been busy with getting ready for Volleyball and studying and I'm trying to get a job..."

"You made time to talk to Spot and Jack and everyone else though," Katherine replies.

Sarah sighs and unwraps her arm from Katherine's shoulders. She fiddles with the stupid mood ring on her pinkie. Sarah takes a deep breath and tucks a piece of her hair behind her ear, “...I’m gay.”

Katherine tenses beside her and Sarah holds her breath.

“Why would that mean you…” Katherine trails off, “You know half of our group is some type of not straight…your brother is not hetero.“

“That doesn’t make coming out any easier,” Sarah mumbles.

“You’re right,” Katherine nods, “I’m sorry for that.”

Sarah just shrugs and sighs. 

“If it makes you feel better,” Katherine begins and Sarah feels her heart speed up, “I’m bi.” 

Sarah’s head begins to spin at the confession. That means Katherine is into girls and Sarah possibly does have a chance, maybe Katherine prefers relationships with boys. Maybe Katherine would just never actually date Sarah.

“Sarah?” Katherine asks.

“Cool.”

“Cool?”

“Yeah…”

“Cool,” Katherine repeats. “I’m sorry for going a little—crazy woman on you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Sarah replies. “I’m sorry for ignoring you.”

Katherine shrugs, “It’s fine.”

Sarah shifts awkwardly, “…Do you need me to beat up Jack for you?”

Katherine laughs and covers her face with her hands despite Sarah being very serious. “David might beat you up for that.”

Sarah smiles.

“David is the reason Jack broke up with me...isn’t he?”

Sarah shrugs, “I never know with those two.”

“It was obvious,” Katherine remarks, “I was surprised when Jack asked me out.”

Sarah smiles, “I remember you asking me.”

“Yeah…” Katherine smiles, “I can’t imagine how David must have felt.”

“He was pretty…” Sarah can’t find the word to describe it.

Katherine clears her throat, “Wanna watch a movie?”

“Sure.”

Sarah grabs her laptop from the bedside table and leans against the headboard. Katherine joins her after she gets back from the bathroom. They scroll through Netflix before deciding on some dumb action movie neither had heard of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh, hello, didn’t see u there.


	10. Step Ten: Over It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All turns out well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> last chapter? probably.

It had been about a month since The Breakup and everything seemed to go back to normal. David and Jack were talking again and whether or not they were together, well no one knows. Katherine and Sarah were talking again and they were definitely not together. Jack and Katherine weren't talking, but there seemed to be no hard feelings.

When Sarah had invited Katherine over she had not realized David had also invited Jack. Sarah tensed when she saw the pair walking towards her and looked over at Katherine who was still smiling.

"Hey!" Sarah greets. "I didn't know Jack was coming over?"

"I didn't know Kath was coming..." David says at the same time.

The siblings laugh awkwardly and look towards their friends who weren't paying attention.

"We better get home before Papa freaks," Sarah says.

David nods and opens the car door for Jack, allowing him to slide in the back.

"Are you okay?" Sarah mouths to Katherine who nods and gets into the car.

The ride home was awkward, David did most of the talking. Well, David rambled the whole way it was just a habit he had: ramble when nervous, ramble when awkward.

Jack and David practically sprinted into the house when Sarah parked the car. Sarah laughed, “Geez.”

Katherine laughs.

“Are you sure you’re fine?” Sarah asks, “I’ll make sure we avoid them.”

“It’s been a month, Sarah,” Katherine says, “I’m over it.”

Sarah nods awkwardly, “Right, yeah, let’s go.”

—

So far, Sarah was doing good at keeping Katherine and Jack separated. The only time they couldn’t avoid each other was dinner no matter how many times Sarah begged her mom to let her and Katherine eat in her room.

But they made it through with no problems and now they were watching Pretty in Pink on Sarah’s TV in her room. They were both laying down, although turned on opposite sides. Sarah couldn’t stop her thoughts from racing and going from each scenario and to each fantasy.

“Duckie is one of the best characters, hands down,” Katherine speaks up, startling Sarah.

“What?”

“Duckie is one of my all time favorite characters, probably,” Katherine says.

“Who’s your first?”

“Probably Hermione from Harry Potter.”

“Mm,” Sarah hums, “David will argue with you on that. He has a shrine dedicated to Neville.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Katherine giggles, which makes Sarah’s heart flutter.

“I personally like Ron,” Sarah admits

Katherine hums for a moment, “Yes, I suppose he’s good too.”

“They’re all good characters really,” Katherine then adds, “Almost all her characters have backgrounds and…”

Sarah feels bad for not listening to Katherine’s ramble, she was too focused on the girls lips and the way her eyes lit up. 

“Sarah?” Katherine says, snapping her fingers in front of her face. “You okay?”

“Oh,” Sarah says and she notices Katherine watching her, “Yeah.”

Sarah feels her heart skip a beat when Katherine glances down at her lips. Sarah hears the movie playing the song:  _Try A Little Tenderness_ in the background and then Katherine’s lips are on hers.

The angle was weird and Sarah could hardly move, she could barely breathe but it was still an amazing kiss.

“I’m sorry,” Katherine whispers.

“It’s fine,” Sarah says after a few minutes, still trying to wrap her mind around what happened.

“I shouldn’t have done that,” Katherine says, suddenly sitting up.

“Wh—what?”

“It was wrong of me,” Katherine says, “It was just the spur of the moment and I didn’t even ask—”

“What if I wanted you to kiss me?” Sarah cuts her off, sitting up as well.

“Well—I—”

“What if I asked you to kiss me again?” Sarah grins.

“I wouldn’t say no,” Katherine says and leans forward.

Sarah can’t help the small gasp that escapes her as Katherine kisses her again.

—

Sarah Jacobs nearly swooned at the sight of her. The girl was sleeping next to her, head halfway on the pillow and her hand under her cheek. Her red curls were out of her face and her bangs were lying across her forehead. She was wearing Sarah’s old One Direction shirt and sweatpants, yet she still managed to look amazingly beautiful.

Sarah tugged the blankets over top of them, hoping not to wake her up. Katherine moved closer as Sarah finally lay down and let out a small snore. Sarah couldn’t help but smile as Katherine wrapped an arm around her waist.

She decided she could stay like this forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU for all the comments and kudos I honestly appreciate it so much!! Sorry it took so long to finish, I hope u can forgive me! Love y’all!


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